AUSTIN (KXAN) — Bat Fest 2022 is coming to the Congress Avenue bridge this weekend.
The event celebrates the 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats that call the bridge home. During the event, attendees will most likely see the bats emerge and take flight around sunset.
The festival will have two outdoor stages and feature music from Chamillionaire, Toadies, Slim Thug, Kolby Cooper, Blackillac and more. The show starts at 4 p.m. Saturday.
There will also be arts and crafts, food and a bat costume contest for adults and kids. You or your child could win $100 in prize money.
If you’re not attending the event, the Austin Transportation Department wants you to be aware as the Congress Avenue bridge will shut down from 5 a.m. Saturday through 5 a.m. Sunday for the event.
The City of Austin has a couple suggestions on how to avoid the closure:
- From the North: Take Cesar Chavez west, take First Street south, take Barton Springs east back to Congress Avenue
- From the South: Take Barton Springs west, take First Street north, take Cesar Chavez east back to Congress Avenue
Bat Fest tickets are $25 in advance and $25 at the gate, including all service charges/fees (only cash accepted at gate). Kids who are 8 years old or younger get in free with an adult chaperone. You can buy tickets online.
Last year, Bat Fest was canceled just days before it was set to happen after the City of Austin denied event organizers a special event permit. Roadway Productions, the company that organizes the event, said at the time the issue isn’t that the city denied the permit, it’s that it was denied so close to the event.
